NitrateVille.com

The current edition of Newsweek has a long and interesting expose on sometime film biographer C. David Heymann's serious lapses in his books about Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Hutton and others. A cautionary tale for anyone who has ever argued that 'it must be true, because it's in a book'.

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/09/05/c-da ... 66876.html

Congratulations to Newsweek for finally being the first major publication in my knowledge to take on one of these characters who for years write extraordinarily dubious "biographies" to the apparent indifference of their publishers whether they are true or not. There are of course several other rivals to this guy whose works need such serious scrutiny.

When Esther Williams wrote her auto biography she stated as fact that her late husband actor Jeff Chandler had been a cross dresser. Incidents were described. She later admitted that it was all made up. She alleged that her publisher pressured her to write such things in order to generate sales.

George O'Brien wrote:When Esther Williams wrote her auto biography she stated as fact that her late husband actor Jeff Chandler had been a cross dresser. Incidents were described. She later admitted that it was all made up. She alleged that her publisher pressured her to write such things in order to generate sales.

That is atrocious that she would lie about it, I'm not making a value judgment on the act itself. I put just as much blame on her as I do her publisher. But, I still wanted to know who the publisher was. It was published later than I thought.
Wikipedia has:

"She co-wrote her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999) with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl."

What a filthy, immoral liar that C. David Heymann was. He makes Kenneth Anger look like a rank amateur. That really is a brilliant article; between that and the recently-discussed one on Mickey Rooney, I'm beginning to have hope for the future of journalism. Thank you for posting the link.

From the Newsweek article:

"On its website, CBS urges teachers to assign to schoolchildren Heymann’s book about the alleged affair between Bobby Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. CBS says the book is based on “impressive sources and impeccable insight” so that readers “finally get behind-closed-doors access to the emotional connection between these two legendary figures. An open secret for decades among Kennedy insiders, their affair emerges from the shadows in an illuminating book that only” Heymann could have produced."

It's amazing how damaging this man's life has been to the world. And, it's interesting how such big players are implicated
in his crime.

So who are the biggest rogues, the dodgy authors or shameless publishers? Such a cheap shot against those who are not around to defend themselves.

Didn't you read the article? He had over three decades of being able to defend himself but chose not to. Instead he continued churning out lies for the price of (I hope) his soul. That conglomerates are immoral is not a revelation: always have been, always will be. This is about a particular individual's irresponsibility and greed.

Changsham wrote:So who are the biggest rogues, the dodgy authors or shameless publishers? Such a cheap shot against those who are not around to defend themselves.

I agree that it would have been preferable that the guy be exposed while he was still around - given the trail of evidence, it's peculiar that he wasn't - but the blame surely has to be shared equally between publisher and author. Even if the author was encouraged by his publisher to create a more sensationalist product, he went along with it; even if the publishers were aware of the author was fabricating his evidence, they went along with it.

At least the advent of the internet makes it more difficult for people to get away with this kind of subterfuge. In the case of one recent controversial publication that I'm aware of, a number of people made clear on their blogs or Facebook pages that they had advised the author he was on the wrong track but both he and his publisher pushed on regardless. The word is able to get out there in some form.

telical wrote:

George O'Brien wrote:When Esther Williams wrote her auto biography she stated as fact that her late husband actor Jeff Chandler had been a cross dresser. Incidents were described. She later admitted that it was all made up. She alleged that her publisher pressured her to write such things in order to generate sales.

That is atrocious that she would lie about it, I'm not making a value judgment on the act itself. I put just as much blame on her as I do her publisher. But, I still wanted to know who the publisher was. It was published later than I thought.
Wikipedia has:

"She co-wrote her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999) with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl."

I read that book, and at the time there were several anecdotes that I thought were suspect, including one about producer Joe Pasternak eating spaghetti with his hands.

old ... um ... news

For the record Esther Williams was not married to Jeff Chandler.I read the book and she claimed that his cross dressing was a reason for not marrying him.

Yes, someone else corrected me that they were not married. But from what you say Esther Williams wrote, that cross dressing was the reason she did not marry Chandler, she actually stacked lie on top of lie. What a louse of a woman!